Days of Remembrance



A very last minute post today....

Remembrance Sunday has affected me more than usual this year. It's always been a time to remember all those who fought in wars and conflicts since the days of the First Word War, and I've very personal reasons to remember especially those who fought and fell in Flanders...



http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/day-of-remembrance.html 



Being immersed in the  world of the First World war for the last six weeks now at work, I'm finding some wonderful stories of heroism, such poignant stories which have been making me cry, and other stories of duty and devotion that just you just couldn't make up.

Yesterday I went to Coalville for the memorial service there, and it was a beautiful morning with the sun shining brightly and a good turnout to honour those who have fought and died .



There were veterans from every conflict and war since the Second World War...

The Gurkas marched too....

.

The long procession made its way to the town's very tall memorial


And as we sang, red paper poppies cascaded through the sky from the very top

And the band played carefully and reverently as different groups lay their wreaths....

What was so humbling that I knew as we stood there and remembered, this scene was being played out in locations all around the country, Europe and the world ...as we all remembered those who we loved and lost.

A day of remembrance

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

Such a sad day for so many...when millions of us think about the sacrifices made by so many in wars past and present. When we remember those who lie in a foreign land...

I always feel very emotional on this day every year.....and today the day is as depressingly dark and grey as I feel.

This is the view from my kitchen window at 2 o clock in the afternoon. 2pm- talk about matching my mood

My grandmother Annie was one of three children,the baby of the family, born years after her two older brothers.They both fought in the First World War. Percy, the youngest brother was a young lance corporal when he died in 1915 - he was 19 years old.

I know in which foreign field he lies, I have photos of his grave in France.There is also just one precious solitary photo of him shyly smiling into the camera, standing in uniform outside a military tent ,so heartbreakingly boyish.

Albert, her older brother died during the Second World War.He was a Major by now, wore a much smarter uniform, but it wasn't enough to save him.

Annie went on to have a girl and two boys too.One of them was my father Freddie who continued the family tradition - I have two brothers. One of them was only a teenager when he got caught up in the Falklands War.He was in the Royal Navy - he signed on to see the world for three years.He was coming back home across the Atlantic from the USA on his final trip when his ship was redirected down to the Falklands.

Instead of bringing out the bunting and hugging my brother...I didn't see him for nearly a year.A year of avidly listening to the news every day, waiting for his letters,and praying that I wouldn't have to face what Annie went through .Luckily I didn't....

But like my great grandmother, grandmother and father ....yes, you've guessed ..I have a girl and two boys.

And I hope with all my heart that they will never have to make the sacrifices that Annie, Percy and Albert made all those years ago.

Today's track? Not from the First or Second World War - it's an anti war song that defined a different generation from theirs...From 1970...Edwin Starr